姑姑 (gū gu) — (father's sister) aunt | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

Your father's sister — the paternal aunt on your dad's side. Contrast with 姨, which is your mother's sister; both are addressed as 姑姑/姨.

noun

(father's sister) aunt

Measure word · 个

姑姑。
Wǒ gū gu shì gè yī shēng.
My aunt is a doctor.
姑姑。
Míng tiān wǒ yào qù gū gu jiā chī fàn.
Tomorrow I'm going to my aunt's house for dinner.
姑姑。
gū gu Gěi wǒ mǎi le yì běn shū.
My aunt bought me a book.

Reduplicated word

构词法gòucífǎ

重叠chóngdiéReduplication

A syllable said twice — for affection, for softness, or simply because that is how the word is said.

The 姑 is said twice in 姑姑 for a father's sister.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

女古姑

Meaning part形符xíngfú

女女nǚwoman

Sound part声符shēngfú

古

Same sound today

The left part 女 marks it as a woman, and the right part 古 provides the sound. It is used for female relatives like an aunt or mother-in-law.